Hello everyone, I am new to the board, but I have been reading these posts and the fishing reports for many years. I live in Alpharetta, which is north of Atlanta, and have been fishing/camping in the GSMNP since I was a child. Over the last couple of years I have seen the park get slammed by the Hemlock Adelgid and it's concerning. I always try to gather information from park rangers and others about what is being done to protect the hemlocks, but never can get good information. Does anyone know the current status? What is being done? If what they are doing is working? What the short term and long term outlook is?

I have noticed in the last couple of years that the Red Spruce and Fraser Firs seem to be coming back. I haven't read anything that states this (and I very well might be wrong), but my girlfriend and I climbed Clingman's Dome and the top was covered in them. They all seemed to be the same age at about ten feet tall. What did the park do to combat the Balsam Wooly Adelgid?